


It Could be Something

by Pastellorama



Category: The Outer Worlds (Video Game)
Genre: Ellie - Freeform, It's not a slow burn, Loneliness, M/M, Mentions of other characters - Freeform, Virginity, but it isn't quick either, just two people questioning what they're doing in the world, more tags to be added later maybe, oh and max, parvati - Freeform, tentative touches, they are mentioned but eh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:14:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28272222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pastellorama/pseuds/Pastellorama
Summary: Captain Alex Hawthorne, or rather CaptainTheodore Halley, returns to his room aboard the Unreliable to find Felix waiting for him and full of questions.
Relationships: Felix Millstone/Original Male Character(s), Male Captain/Felix Millstone, The Captain/Felix Millstone
Comments: 6
Kudos: 15





	1. Chapter 1

"Hey boss."

Theodore looked up in surprise, fingers dropping from the buckles of his armor as he'd been undoing it while entering his room. Felix was lounging casually on his bed, lithe frame draped comfortably over Theo's pillows and nestled comfortably into the small sleeping area. He had an impish smirk on his young face, a gleam in his eyes.

"Felix..." Theodore said calmly in greeting. "Can I help you with something?" 

"Yeah. Can we talk?" Felix asked, sitting up and shifting his legs off Theodore's bed. His fingers curled around the edge of the thin mattress as his boots scuffed against the floor. Theo didn't want to think about just how much sprat shit and mud Felix had gotten on his bed....

"I guess. What about?" His eyes, green and sharp, watched Felix carefully. He was wary of his crew. Wary of the world, really... or the _worlds_ rather. He'd been thawed out and thrown into one shithole after the other; was this really the new world? The new colony? Was this what life had become?

He couldn't even process it. "No Discernible Aptitude". That's what had been written about him. Long before he'd been thawed out, he had already been marked as not made for this world. He didn't fit any of their molds. The way people talked about their jobs... the way they saw life.

He'd thought life on Earth had been grim... thought it was as bad as it could get. But then again, he hadn't met a raptidon yet. He would've given anything to go back and never get on that ship. The Hope. _A fucking lie_. The Abandoned was what it was. He could have lived his life and died peacefully in the time he'd been stranded out in space and forgotten.

"-tain? Helloooo Captain??" Felix snapped his fingers in front of Theodore's face, Theodore inhaling sharply in surprise. Felix had stood up while Theo had been lost in thought, his sudden nearness to Theo startling him. "Where'd you go there, boss?"

Theodore shook his head, fighting off the urge to clutch at his heart. It felt like it was burning in his chest and it _hurt_. He cleared his throat and focused on Felix. "Sorry--you wanted to talk about something?"

"Yeah. Do you mind if we close the door?" Felix asked, Theo's brow furrowing at the request. He wasn't sure if he wanted to do that....

The door shut abruptly of it's own accord, ADA broadcasting into the room. 

_"HELLO CAPTAIN. I HAVE TAKEN CARE OF THE DOOR FOR YOU. I HOPE MY WORK IS SATISFACTORY. YOU'RE WELCOME..."_

Theo sighed in annoyance. ADA always had a tinge of sarcasm to her voice, but this time it felt more deliberate. More _sassy_. He wanted to tell her to stop watching him and listening to his conversations, but there was no reasoning with an A.I. following its protocols.

"I guess so," Theodore said defeatedly to Felix's request. "What is it?"

"I... well, I'm not proud of it, but while you were out in Roseway I got a little curious. You don't really talk a lot about yourself, but you've always been so interested in the rest of us..."

"... and?"

Theodore noticed Felix's expression shift, becoming a little more pensive and guarded. 

"Well... you lied. You lied to us..." Felix said at last, his tone accusing as he looked at Theo. 

Lied? About what...? Theodore hardly spoke enough to give any information that could be a lie. Still, Theodore tensed to hear Felix say it.

"You're name's not Alex. You're not Alex Hawthorne," Felix continued. "I saw on the terminal. It's Theodore, right? Theodore Halley."

Theo blinked in surprise, a sharp laugh bursting out of him. Was that all!? That was what had Felix so spooked? Theo shook his head and started unbuckling his armor again. He came in here to relax, and he was going to whether or not there was an immature revolutionist in his room. 

"Yeah, it is. I'm not the original Alex Hawthorne, but ADA will only fly for Captain Alex Hawthorne. He unfortunately perished in a mission to help _me_ ," Theo admitted, chuckling again at Felix's tenacity. "Is that all, Felix?"

Felix frowned, expression pensive before he looked out the window at the endless expanse of darkness. "How come you never mentioned it...? Why did you hide it?"

"I didn't hide it. It was never relevant."

"Well what else isn't relevant!? What else don't we know about you!? You're supposed to be our leader and we don't even know your damn name!"

Theo raised an eyebrow at the outburst, setting his armor aside. He was down to a simple sweat stained shirt and brown pants, but still wore his heavy armored boots. He stooped to begin removing them; if Felix had any intention of hitting him with a tossball stick, now was his chance.

"I'm sorry, Felix. I just don't understand why you're upset by this. In the end, The Unreliable is _my_ ship, and you, aboard it, are part of _my_ crew. Isn't that what you wanted? Haven't I given you everything you've wanted?" Theo asked, rising to his full height once more and looking down at Felix. 

Felix averted his eyes from Theo's all too piercing gaze. 

"I'll take that as a no..." Theodore commented, a soft sigh escaping him as he ran a hand through his short dark locks with their brightly colored purple ends. "What, Felix?"

"Well... I guess I just wanna know more about ya, boss. If I ask some questions, will you answer them?" Felix asked hopefully, Theo shrugging.

"Sure, for the most part," he agreed before sinking into the chair by his terminal. He spun around, facing away from Felix and propping his bare heels on the desk as he reclined back. His room really did have the best view with its large curved windows at the front of the Unreliable.

Felix sucked in a breath, seeming to know that "for the most part" was the best offer he'd get. Theodore could hear it as Felix settled back onto his bed. He could practically hear Felix thinking too.

"Were you really from the Hope?"

"Yep."

"So that isn't just a joke... you really mean it?"

"Again, yep," Theo answered shortly.

"I grew up as a stowaway... thought that was lonely. But I bet it's worse for you, huh boss? Waking up and everything is different... I feel that way sometimes when we go to a new planet... being on actual ground, not just the Groundbreaker..." he rambled, and Theo could feel how Felix was desperately trying to connect to him in some way.

"It is definitely different," Theo replied, closing his eyes as he spoke and getting comfy. He didn't often have company in his room, and he wasn't going to let Felix's presence stop him from resting up. This life was a stressful one.... "Sometimes I think if there was a way to go back... I would. I'd never get on the Hope. I would just stay on Earth and live my life normally and die and never know about Halcyon at all."

"Earth?" Felix asked curiously. "Wow... you really are ancient." 

"Like a dinosaur," Theo agreed, to Felix's confused silence. 

"What was Earth like?"

Theo sat up, twisting in his chair to face Felix and sighing. "Bad... but better than anything here. Your Terra 2 and Monarch are as close as they could get to replicating Earth... and they are still nothing like Earth. There, the sky was blue and you could only see the moon and the sun. The rest just looked like more stars, tiny and far away in a blanket of black... there was a lot of green. There were places you could go where the trees were so tall and so thick and so many... you could get lost in them and die before anyone realized you were gone."

Felix nodded, trying to imagine it but struggling. There wasn't a lot of green in Halcyon. Vivid purples and pinks and bright yellows and electric blues... but he hadn't seen very much green. Not the way it was on Earth, according to Theodore.

"What was life like there?" Felix asked next. "Did you have family?"

That was a different question. More personal, and more thought provoking. "It was... nothing like this. We changed jobs at random. We pursued whatever we thought would make us happy... and it was happier. I didn't realize it until I first visited Edgewater... but what we had back then was damn near euphoric compared to this miserable waste of a system..."

Felix looked surprised at that, an eyebrow arching with interest at what that might be like. "And... your family? Did you have one? A mom... a dad? Were you married?"

Theo fixed Felix with his own look of amusement and intrigue. Was it just Felix's own lack of family that made him so curious? "I had one. A mom and a dad. Two sisters, even. They're all gone now, though. I'm sure of it.... None of them ever considered going to Halcyon for even a second. I should've listened," he admitted with a sigh. "And, no, no marriage for me. It wouldn't work... ask Parvati. We're kind of similar in some ways."

Felix nodded, either just taking in Theo's words or trying to demonstrate that he perhaps understood. "Yeah... I overheard once, when you were down in the bay. Didn't mean to eavesdrop-"

"Yes you did," Theo interrupted, green eyes on Felix sternly. "Otherwise you wouldn't have snooped in my room. You're curious, it's fine."

Felix looked embarrassed at having been so abruptly called out, a hand rubbing the back of his neck as he looked away. "I... have you ever screwed anyone?"

Theo was amused by the direct question, his fingers latticing over his stomach as he sat back. "Yes."

"And you really hated it? Maybe they just weren't any good," Felix suggested.

Theo laughed a little, shaking his head. "I didn't hate it. I just can think of better things to do with myself."

Felix seemed to brighten slightly at Theodore's words, and Theo could see how his fingers were digging into the fabric of his pants as he sat on the edge of Theo's bed.

"Have _you_ ever screwed someone?" Theo asked in return, easily noticing when Felix's face flushed heavily and he looked away. It wasn't like he didn't know the answer. It was clear on Felix's face. 

"... no," Felix admitted at last.

Theodore nodded, pushing himself up from his chair and moving to sit on his bed besides Felix. He watched him carefully, aware of Felix's stuttering heartbeat and how Felix was sweating even though ADA kept the ship at a reasonable and comfortable temperature. His ability to notice things like that seemed to be related to the way he could make the world slow down around him, pausing to analyze everything in less than a second and receiving more information from his surroundings than was humanly possible 

"Felix... you've been lying to me," Theodore said calmly. "You weren't in my room to snoop, were you? You were looking for me."

Felix wet his lips nervously, Theodore aware of the tremble that passed through him. "I should go get some shooting practice in with Ellie," he said abruptly. "Thanks for the talk, boss."

Theo rolled his eyes, a hand catching Felix by the wrist as he began to stand and attempt to leave. It was easy to yank him back down, Theo eyeing Felix intensely. "No. Out with it, Felix. What did you _really_ want?" 

Felix shrugged, his youthful face looking somewhat crestfallen as he looked anywhere but at Theodore.

"C'mon. You never keep your thoughts to yourself anyways, just say it. Whatever it is, I'm sure stupider things have left the lips of everyone on this ship."

Felix fidgeted beside him, eyes squeezing shut as he tried to think.

"Would it help if I interviewed you again?" Theodore offered, a loose smile on his lips. "Just pretend you're reading me another resumé off a Rizzo's wrapper."

Felix laughed a little at that, relaxing marginally and rubbing his jaw as he thought. "Well..."

"I'll start. So your name is Felix Millstone... and you're a crewmate of the Unreliable, huh? How's that? Work steady?" Theodore asked, Felix snorting and shaking his head at Theo before Theo insisted, "You have to answer the question!"

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, I am. I do general security and re-... renaissance?"

"Reconnaissance," Theo corrected.

"Reconnaissance," Felix repeated. 

"And that's goin' alright for you?" 

"... yeah?" Felix looked at him questioningly, Theo gesturing for him to continue. "Um. It's good. I like getting to be a real adventurer. I feel like I'm finally doing something worthwhile with my life. Also, getting to stick it to Max that there is no _great plan_ has been fun."

Theodore failed to suppress a laugh. "Don't be too mean. Some people can't find purpose on their own and need someone else to give them one... anyways... you're here for a reason today, right?"

Felix gave a hesitant nod, his cheeks coloring faintly. "I am."

"You wanna screw?" 

The bluntness of the question caught Felix off guard, and his mouth worked at a response that just wouldn't come as he batted Theo's hand away and stood up abruptly. "I- it's- no, but- that's entirely-!" he sputtered, Theo doubling over with laughter and patting the bed for Felix to reseat himself.

"Calm down, charmer. It wasn't an offer, we're still interviewing," he said, but he couldn't stop grinning. 

Felix sat, this time shifting as far away from Theo as he possibly could and perching himself at the opposite end of the bed. 

"Why?" Theo asked as his next question. "Why do you want that from me? You already know I don't really... have an interest in that."

Felix's teeth scraped across his lip as he thought, fingers curling into the mattress. God he was young... and naive. "I... don't know?"

Theo smirked. "Is it my good looks?" he suggested. "My charismatic ways; how I could talk my way out of a sulfur pit? Maybe how I use a gun--you like how I look when I'm the one pullin' the trigger?" 

Felix had started to laugh, his cheeks still red but a smile on his face at last instead of the solemn and shy expression he'd been wearing. "No, none of that," he disagreed, Theodore faking a pout before laughing. 

"So why then?"

"Well, I guess it's cuz you're kinda like me, boss," Felix said decisively, popping his knuckles absentmindedly as he stared at the ground. "Just sorta lost... everything is new and different. Out of place, living a life that we never really expected?"

"I'm relatable? That's all?" Theo asked, pretending to be hurt by the confession. The smile on his lips said otherwise, and Felix gave him a shove. 

"Fine. You're not bad looking," he scoffed.

Theo beamed to hear it, his eyes fixed on Felix and watching him curiously. "So... you think I'm hot and also feel like we're kindred spirits. Anything else? Do you actually want to _be_ with me, or is this just cuz you want to..." he trailed off.

Felix shrugged and took a deep breath which he exhaled slowly through his nose. "I wouldn't want it from anyone else," he said flatly. "But it doesn't matter, because you don't want it period."

Theodore's smile slackened into something sympathetic, and he scooted closer to Felix and placed a hand firmly on his thigh. "Felix... it isn't like I don't get lonely. I like companionship; I couldn't imagine being alone out here..." 

Felix eyed Theodore's hand dubiously before his gaze shifted to meet Theo's, waiting for him to go on.

"I'm not a neglectful partner, either. If we pursue something... I'm not going to turn you down. Sex may not be at the top of my list of things to do for entertainment, but I _do_ enjoy pleasing my partner and find it very rewarding."

"... _oh_ ," Felix said softly, for the first time his expression unreadable. "So there can be _something_?" Ah... so it was tentative _hope_ he saw there. 

Theodore's hand slipped from Felix's thigh, finding his hand and curling his fingers between Felix's. "Yeah. There can be something," he said with a soft nod.


	2. Chapter 2

"You look very silly in that armor..." Felix commented when they were alone, Theo rolling his eyes in reply. So his armor was cotton candy pink and blue... so what? It kept him safe, and that was what mattered.

"Say it again and I'll get you a nice set of Ordinance Control armor," Theo threatened, stopping in the hall outside his quarters and relaxing against the doorframe. 

"Nooo, no thanks! I think I'll stick to Hephaestus gear over that ridiculous Aramid Ballistics nonsense! Or somethin' like what Nyoka wears? That's pretty dope... did I get that right? Dope?" Felix asked, his big brown eyes fixed on Theodore and hopeful looking.

Theo laughed loudly and pulled Felix close to him, kissing his nose teasingly before letting go. "Yeah, you got it right," he confirmed. "You don't got the hips to pull off Nyoka's armor though."

"Or the balls," Ellie snarked as she passed them on her way up to the kitchen. She'd been out in Stellar Bay, picking up supplies for who else but Nyoka. 

_"THIS IS A REMINDER, AGAIN, THAT THE SHIP HAS ONLY ONE BATHROOM,"_ ADA announced over the intercom as Ellie vanished. Felix and Theo both seemed to mutually sigh in resent, whatever mood they'd been working towards evaporating. 

The pad of Theodore's gloved thumb grazed over the beauty mark on Felix's cheek, Theo looking at him fondly. "You ever been camping?"

Felix raised an eyebrow. "We camp all the time, boss," he pointed out, Theo shaking his head.

"No, not like that. That's just stopping for rest. I mean _camping_. A big tent, a fire with marshmallows... fishing and eating everything we catch. Laying under the sky and listening to the woods creak and hum with life...."

Felix listened, enraptured by Theo's words before asking frankly, "What are marshmallows?"

Theodore snorted and patted Felix's cheek, walking into his room to go over some of their logs and see what was what. Things were going well it seemed, at least for them as a crew. Work was getting done, bit cartridges were being scraped together for needs and even a few luxuries, and it felt like maybe they might accomplish something. _What_ , Theo had no idea. If Felix had it his way, it would be total overthrow of the board. Theo had to admit that didn't sound like a terrible plan....

Beyond that, however, the crew members were a bit testy. Everyone was disillusioned and jaded to a degree, and Theo was starting to feel the same way. Everyone handled it differently. Parvati threw herself at working on the ship and tinkering with SAM, Nyoka drank until she passed out or heaved, Max locked himself in his room for hours, and Ellie tried to take care of them. Theodore thought she was more maternal that she'd ever admit. 

Then there was Felix. Bright eyed, inexperienced, and full of reverence for every new experience. Theo hated to let him down. He didn't want to see the young man fall apart after having his dreams shattered or finding out everything he ever knew was a lie.

So Theo tried to protect him. He hid some of the data he fetched on missions, erased logs of horrendous incidents, and kept Felix away from the worst of their missions. Trying to keep Felix off of Monarch was impossible, though, and Theo had resigned himself to the fact that Felix would accompany him no matter what while on Monarch. 

Wanting to keep some of Felix's hopes alive, Theo planned his next mission carefully for the rest of the evening. Once ready, he met his crew by the ship entry and greeted each of them.

"Alright, it's short one. Shouldn't take long, just some infestation problems in Cascadia," Theo explained, looking over his crew as he spoke. He ran a hand through his hair, displacing the blue dyed locks that had previously been purple.

"Uh, Cap? There ain't no one left in Cascadia to _have_ a problem with an infestation," Nyoka pointed out, Theo giving her a look that said everything he needed it to. "But I'm always happy to blow the heads off some mantiqueens!"

"Good! Cuz you're coming with!" he said chipperly, his smile more dangerous than it was genuine. "Annnd..."

Felix looked about ready to wiggle out of his skin, eager and desperate to get out there and show Theo what he could do. Theodore wasn't surprised to see his face drop as S.A.M was chosen instead, that crestfallen face making his heart ache. But he had plans, and Felix needed to stay put.

"Ellie, you're in charge. We'll try to be back before the sleep cycle," Theodore finished, rolling his shoulders as he spoke and getting ready to disembark.

"... Boss?" Felix asked as he wet his lips, Theo steeling himself for whatever Felix was about to say.

"Yeah, Felix?" 

Felix's gaze went anywhere but Theodore's face as he thought better of what he was going to say. "Good luck out there."

Theo could only nod.

**Author's Note:**

> Should I do more on this? I just thought Felix was cute tbh.


End file.
